


What Could Have Been

by Varmint



Category: Naruto
Genre: Adorable, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Crime Scenes, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Feelings, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Gen, Hidan isn't Completely Insane, In a way, It's not Nothing, No Uchiha Massacre, Nobody is Power Hungry, One Shot, Sakumo Lives, Something Hurts, Sorry Not Sorry, Timeline What Timeline, Well - Freeform, i changed a lot, so many feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 12:44:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13146975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varmint/pseuds/Varmint
Summary: Snippets of a world that could have been. OR: The Akatsuki members get the (kind of) happy endings they deserved. One-Shot! Fluffs and feels! And huge AU- Canon Divergence ahoy!





	What Could Have Been

Snippets of a world that could have been. OR: The Akatsuki members get the (kind of) happy endings they deserved.

This isn't really a _Christmas_ story. It's a feel good, family and friend oriented, all around _nice_ story to make some people feel good. So, in essence, it's not the gift giving, carol singing story one would write for Christmas. But it touches on a lot of themes- friendship, family, happiness- that might be found in them.

I hope you all enjoy!~

..~..~..

Fū liked traveling around the world with Jiji.

Sure, he was a bit of a grumpy old man that didn't really like wasting his money or having any fun. And he didn't really indulge her whenever she wanted to play tag or hide and seek. And he didn't really let her make many friends unless he had deemed them completely worthy…

Now that she thought about it, there were a lot of things her makeshift grandfather didn't allow her to do.

But he allowed her to call him Jiji. And he allowed her to hug him whenever she was terrified; when the lightning strikes and thunder claps that ambushed them reminded her too much of _that horrible night_. And he let her have a handful of friends and even let her visit them whenever his business took him into their Villages.

As if those little actions weren't enough, he would quietly hand over her favorite brand of chocolate whenever she proved that she'd been training as hard as she insisted she was. He'd never tell her it was because she deserved it. He wasn't big on telling her that she was doing things right and much rather liked pointing out what she did wrong. But he didn't have to say it for her to know.

He wasn't a father- he despised children and would never allow himself to be called such a thing. And he certainly wasn't an older brother; he hated having to be responsible for anyone other than himself and had lived through too much to ever possibly be anyone's _brother_. (He was _old_ ; even though he'd never say it.)

No, he was more like a gruff grandfather that didn't allow much stupidity and never cut corners. He didn't spoil nor did he praise, but he _did_ let her know whenever she did a job well with a soft pat to her head before he began to grumble about their next target. And he was all for harsh education instead of comfortable one, so Fū usually always found herself under horrendously brutal attacks that would have undoubtedly killed people weaker than her. But she stood strong and fought back. And at the end of the day, she earned that delicious chocolate she was handed.

"Fū!"

"Yeah?"

"What're you doing? We've got to get moving, the Hunter-Nin are on their way and I'm _not_ saving your ass this time around!"

Fū knew that if Jiji saw her smile, he would willingly hurl her at the shinobi currently chasing after them. So she did her best to hide the smirk as she prepared for the onslaught she would have to face to make sure the man with the beautiful and unique eyes didn't try and get rid of her. _Again_.

* * *

"What're you so busy looking at?"

With a soft smile, Haku turned to look behind him.

The hulking mass of Kisame's body clambered outside of the tent he had set up the past night. He was just waking up, but was ever alert of what was happening around him. Even with his eyes fogged by sleep, he still was able to see Haku staring down at _something_ in his hands.

When Haku first met Kisame, he had been scared.

The male had been- and would forever be- more beast than human. He sneered like a hunter sizing up his prey whenever he tried to smile, and he glowered like a displeased brute prepared to clobber heads whenever he frowned. He growled whenever something happened and he didn't like it; so he was usually always growling. And he barely ever admitted to enjoying something.

Haku had found a way to love him, though. And through this love, he had been able to see the softer side of Kisame.

Kisame didn't smile around others because he didn't want to hear their terrified gasps. He glowered when he frowned because it was easier to scare people wholeheartedly than actually try to be nice. He growled because people cowered away from him as soon as they heard him sounding like the terrifying creature he seemed to be. And he refused to admit to liking things because he was terrified of somehow, in some unbelievably horrendous manner, managing to ruin what he liked most.

There had been a reason as to why he'd tried to get rid of Haku when he'd turned twelve, after all.

Stubbornly, Haku had refused to leave the only person that had never abandoned him. Not even when Kisame had been offered an overwhelming, truly stupefying, sum of money to hand over his body had the man left him. So why would he leave the man himself behind? Because of some silly belief of 'everything I touch becomes poisoned and dies'? No. Haku didn't believe in leaving Kisame behind.

He'd been terrified when he'd first seen the large beast crossing the bridge, sneering down at him as if some fiendish ghoul from only the worst of his nightmares had managed to escape the world of dreams and enter that of reality. But now, he truly loved this oxymoronically _human_ beast.

He wouldn't allow Kisame to leave him. Not even if death threatened would he allow the Missing Nin to leave him.

Their family unit was small and odd. But they were family.

"Nothing important." Haku answered as he rolled up the scroll to make sure Kisame wasn't able to walk up and see it.

Kisame's heart was much softer than he would ever admit out loud. But he was prone to uncontrollable, mostly irrational, bouts of anger that had him destroying everything he considered even minutely insulting or disgusting.

Haku had learned how to seal objects into scrolls years ago and it had been the skill he had practiced the most that had virtually nothing to do with his usually violent life. Within this particular scroll, he kept a small cache of drawings he'd managed to make of Kisame at his most vulnerable- sleeping, enjoying his catch of fish, petting a puppy when he thought no one was looking.

Even though the man would feel guilty after he'd destroyed such precious things, Haku knew he would still destroy them the moment he saw them. So he kept them a secret and enjoyed them in private.

"You've got liar written all over you." Kisame yawned out, shook his head, and stretched his arms. "But I don't care as long as you haven't gotten anyone pregnant. Now, what're we going to do today?"

Haku smiled at the man, pocketed the scroll, and began to remind the man of the bounty he had wanted to look in on before they had left the Land of Fire.

* * *

"Konan-Sensei! Konan-Sensei!"

A soft smile melted onto the woman's face as she found a couple of her Academy students running up to her.

Konoha wasn't her original home. But she loved it, just like she loved all of the people within.

Unlike her best friends, she had decided to take up the quiet life of an Academy teacher. Yahiko had been all up for glory and fame, like Jiraiya-Sensei. And Nagato had gone along with him to make sure he didn't get killed for his bull headedness. But Konan enjoyed working with children; she even managed to thrive in this field where others would have withered and soured.

A shock of blonde hair was bouncing beside another, somewhat lighter, head of longer blonde hair.

"Naruto-kun, Ino-chan." She nodded at them both, only to receive bright smiles in return.

 _This_.

This was the reason why she chose to work with snot-nosed brats instead of in the field. Even though she sometimes worried over her friends' well being- she couldn't protect them out there if she was stuck inside Academy walls- Konan was more than sure that this was her proper place. She didn't enjoy bloodshed and murder. She loved warmth and kindness.

"Konan-Sensei! We wanted to ask if you could teach us some of that paper folding!" Naruto informed her with a broad smile, all the while the young Yamanaka beside him nodded quickly.

"We want to fold just like you!"

Konan smiled down at the pure souls asking for her help in such a small task.

Even though Konoha had not been her home from birth, it had allowed her to grow in a way that she knew her real home would never have been able to offer her. Nobody within this Hidden Village held any real ties to her; yet Konan felt like she could trust every single shinobi that lived and worked within these walls.

She was a foreigner, yes. But this was her home.

"Of course. Would you like to learn now?" It was her lunch break, but she did not mind losing some time to help her students learn.

"Yeah!"

The blonde children ran up to her, each one grabbing onto one hand, and Konan found herself smiling down at their enthusiasm.

This was not a life of bloodshed and murder. This was not a life she had been prepared to live as a child. But it certainly was not a life she regretted.

"Let us go, then."

Just as they began to make their way back into the classrooms, Konan spotted one more child with too much determination in her eyes to ignore.

"Hinata-chan! You finally got here!"

Naruto grabbed the young girl's hand and pulled her into a one armed hug, all the while Konan and Ino smiled at them both.

The young Hyuuga smiled back at the blonde and offered a quiet apology, explaining that she had needed to convince Neji-nii-san to let her walk back home so she could stay and help them with their plan for a little while longer.

Little plan?

Konan didn't ask about it. Instead she led the three children back towards the Academy to teach them.

With Naruto's large mouth, she was sure she would find out what they were up to in less than an hour.

* * *

As a priest of his Lord Jashin, Hidan had learned how to deal with violent non-believers through years of attacks on his person and his beliefs.

As a priest of his Lord Jashin, Hidan found no greater joy than to spread the good word of his God to all ears willing to listen to him.

As a priest of his Lord Jashin, Hidan thanked the Great Maker Above for having given him the opportunity to travel the world in his quest to spread the word of his God, allowing him to meet all sort of wonderful, horrible, ready to believe, and ready to wound people.

Not many were eager to listen to him, of course. Some were violent and refused to listen to him; but Hidan forgave them, those were lost souls that were much too bitter to allow refuge to reach them. Others were more than happy to listen to him, eager to learn the good word and truly begin their lives; ready to leave behind the pain of the past to embrace the bright hope of the future.

These two were odd. Neither truly fell into either of the categories Hidan had become accustomed to over his years of spreading his Lord's word.

"I'm not sure that murdering those Hunter-Nin might be a good idea."

"You're a priest, you know nothing."

"Jiji! That wasn't nice!" The green haired girl turned to look back at him with an apologetic smile on her thin lips, although her eyes shone with a sort of mischief that let Hidan know she wasn't _completely_ apologetic, "He's not very nice, Priest."

"Not many are." Hidan found himself shrugging softly as he followed after the two that had managed to help him decimate the heathens that had tried to stop his pilgrimage to his Lord's lands. "But, seriously, Hunter Nin are not the kind you want to be pissing off unless you can kill them."

The male grunted, the girl giggled, and Hidan found himself shaking his head.

These two were insane.

… Lord Jashin must have had a reason for having made them meet…

* * *

Rasa had watched his Sensei grow bitter and disillusioned with the world over years of war and meaningless battles. He had watched as the man that had taught him all he now knew withdrew from the outside world and retracted into himself; a scared snail trying to hobble its way back into the home he knew brought safety.

At one point, he had truly worried that Sasori of the Red Sands would become so disillusioned with the world around him and his life that he would defect and leave Suna behind.

But then Temari had been born. And a new life seemed to have been breathed into his former teacher.

Without needing Rasa to ask him to give his aid, Sasori took it upon himself to make sure the young girl was always watched and safe. He took on the role of being her silent watcher without him needing to say a single word.

There was no doubt in the Kazekage's mind that his daughter would be targeted by those that wanted to hurt and depose him. Knowing that his old teacher was watching over her allowed him to actually sleep at night, for he knew that anyone that messed with Sasori-Sensei's charge was someone that would never be heard from again.

By the time Kankuro was born, Sasori didn't seem like much of a hermit anymore. He would spend his days tutoring Temari- even though she was no more than two years of age- and would eat his dinner with the Kazekage and his family. He had more light in his eyes, however faint and dull it was.

Rasa had never thought that his old teacher would be part of the family that was allowed to be inside of Karura's hospital room after his second child's birth. But with all those that had ever mattered to him- Baki, a man that was like a younger brother to him, Karura, his first daughter, his newborn son, _and_ his old teacher-, Rasa could not help but find himself to be one of the luckiest men in the world.

When Sasori-Sensei grabbed the newborn child and looked him over with an unreadable expression on his face, Rasa knew that something would occur that would make him regret ever having thought such a thing.

"This child will be a puppeteer. He will learn all of my tricks so he can, in turn, teach a future generation of puppeteers."

Rasa found himself breathing out in relief- he had honestly expected something worse… Something more along the lines of "This child is too weak to keep" or "On the third full moon of his fourth year, you must bathe him with waters you must find in the springs of the Land of Snow, which must only be retrieved during a winter solstice".

His old teacher was odd.

But knowing that Kankuro would be taught by one of the greatest puppet masters to ever live brought him much comfort. He wasn't sure just why Sasori had decided it would be Kankuro to learn this and not Temari, but he wasn't willing to ask. The puppeteer was an odd man with odd reasons. Sometimes, it was just best not to ask for explanations.

When his darkest hour arrived, Sasori-Sensei was the one to purge Suna of the monsters that had doomed a _child_ to become the vessel of a beast.

They had done it without Rasa's knowledge; the council of elders had tricked his wife by making her think she would be taking part in an ancient good luck ritual only known to the clan of one of the members of the council. Instead, she was being cursed with the One Tailed Beast that would then take up residence in the child growing within her.

Rasa had wanted to kill them all. Because of his responsibilities to Suna, he had not been able to.

Though, knowing that it was _Sasori_ that brought upon their end, Rasa knew they had suffered. And this was a thought that comforted him an immeasurable amount.

Publically, the Council of Elders had been massacred by a deranged missin-nin that was then taken down by Sasori. Privately, the Kazekage imagined himself dancing on their graves.

When Gaara was born, the only reason why Karura had survived was because Granny Chiyo had given her life for her. And Sasori proclaimed that when the time came that the children became genin, he would gladly take them on as his students.

Rasa had never been happier to see his teacher's emotionless face speaking to him.

Now his children were learning from both Sasori and the Academy; all excellent students within their years. Suna had never been more prosperous; it seemed that Sasori's purge had worked for more than just vengeance. And their alliance with the Hidden Leaf was the most stable it had ever been.

With a small smile on his face, Rasa watched as Kankuro struggled to control the practice marionette given to him for his birthday, Gaara hugged his favorite teddy bear tightly and watched his older brother work. As this happened, Temari and Karura both harassed Baki into teaching the girl a wind style ninjutsu that was much too advanced for even a chunin, even though the girl still needed to refine her control on her chakra to even begin to learn basics. Poor Baki, though, had no idea how to say no to either woman and merely looked like a deer caught in a hunter's sights.

Sasori was standing behind Kankuro, watching him as well. He wanted to make sure that Kankuro was learning how to work on his own. Puppeteering was not an easy skill to master and starting off young was a surefire way to ensure dominance over the difficult craft.

But right when Kankuro's bottom lip jutted out- a sign they all knew was an omen of his subsequent rejecting a task by saying it was stupid and not worth his time, only because he couldn't really handle it-, the man slowly lifted his hand and the marionette's limbs stabilized.

Kankuro gasped, Gaara's eyes widened, and both brothers began to cheer. The young red head wrapped his small arms around the young brunette, and they both commenced to jump around as if they had just been witnesses to the greatest victory Suna had ever experienced.

 _You spoil them_ , Rasa wanted to say. But he remained quiet, content to watch _all_ of his family living the happy lives they deserved.

* * *

"Itachi! Itachi!"

The teenager glanced down at the seven year old that had jumped onto his back. He was not annoyed, but, instead, worried. The little boy had done so without even making sure Itachi was stable enough to take on the new weight.

"Sasuke? What have I told you about jumping on your brother?"

"Uh… To not do it, Obito?"

"And what did I tell you would happen if you surprised us in the middle of his training?"

Sasuke paled and he let go of his grip around Itachi's neck, immediately moving away from both older members of the Uchiha Clan.

"I didn't mean to! It was all Kakashi and Kiba! They told me to go get Itachi so we could play hide and seek!"

Obito breathed out at the mention of his friend, then looked up to scan around the training ground he and Itachi had been using to train.

Itachi smiled down at his brother and patted him on the head, "He won't do anything to you. You know he threatens and growls but would never do anything to hurt you. He loves you too much to chance your ire, little brother."

Sasuke beamed at this and Itachi chuckled before he ruffled his hair. Once he had assured his brother that nothing would happen to him, he looked around the training ground and began to scan and see if he could find the mentioned troublemakers.

"Kakashi! What have I told you about interrupting me when I'm teaching my clansmen?"

Itachi turned to look at Obito, for he had not been able to find either Kakashi or Kiba. The man was looking ahead of him, but to where his back had previously been facing, his arms crossed over his chest and a cross between an exasperated sneer and an amused smirk playing on his lips.

Kakashi's silver hair popped up behind Obito, a head of brown hair clinging to his neck.

"Mah, you're boring, Obito. Kiba and Sasuke are being annoying- entertain them."

The mentioned Inuzuka offered all of the Uchiha men there a bright yet feral smile that promised of much destruction if he wasn't able to have some fun soon.

From his experience with Hana, Itachi knew that this smile was a promise and a threat. And that an Inuzuka with this smile should be taken extremely seriously. Young or not, that Clan was wild and dangerous. Especially when the Inuzuka in question was one that spent his time learning from both his own clansmen and those from the Hatake Clan.

"I'm supposed to be teaching one of my students, Kakashi." Obito huffed with annoyance, "Just when did we trade places? You were always the one to work too hard and I was always interrupting you to get you to chill out."

Kakashi shrugged as he picked Kiba up by the scruff of his shirt, "Probably when Naruto was born. You got all boring and serious… Then again, that was about the time you married… Maybe it was that…"

Itachi watched as Kakashi walked up to him and Sasuke. The man placed Kiba down on the floor beside Sasuke, only to have the Inuzuka immediately launch himself at his best friend and demand to play.

"See? He needs constant attention and I can't fulfill that need."

Obito rolled his eyes at Kakashi's dramatic proclamation. But he soon walked up to both boys, picked them up by the collars of their shirts- unfortunately, it was a bad habit the Uchiha were slowly adopting from their interactions with both the Hatake and Inuzuka Clans-, and smiled at them.

"Who wants to play 'Stab the kunai in the Scarecrow'?"

Kakashi's eyes widened.

Both boys' smiled eagerly.

Itachi shook his head softly.

The Hatake turned tail and began to run, all the while Obito pulled out two different kunai so he could hand them to either kid. Then the two Uchiha and one Inuzuka began to chase after the silver haired man, whooping and laughing as he shouted at them about how this was inhumane and unfair treatment.

As they ran, Itachi merely settled himself on his knees to begin to meditate.

If he heard a sharp shout of pain, he would intervene. Until then, though, he was sure that Obito and Kakashi could deal with both kids…

The safety of a chase that had not yet culminated would not last long- it never did. But it would at least be five minutes before he had to intervene.

He could take this time to meditate.

"Hey, 'Tachi! Where's Shisui? I'm sure he'd love this game!"

Even though he tried to keep a straight face, the young Uchiha was not able to keep from smiling at his elder's shout. Shisui was on a mission, along with Izumi and a member of the Nara Clan he did not know. Obito should have known... Then again, he had been so busy tending to his wife and genin team that he must have let that bit of information slip past him.

Itachi would inform him of Shisui's whereabouts once he had finished up chasing after his friend.

* * *

He was a criminal. He was aware of it. Dammit, _he knew_.

But… He couldn't allow that man to continue living in such filthy and horrible conditions.

The Raikage's brother or not, Deidara would not stand the injustices that were continuously thrust upon him because of a burden he had never even been allowed to _want_.

Yes, Killer B was healthy and allowed some liberties. But he'd never been allowed to truly become his own man. He was forced into the shadow of his brother and father because of the creature he housed within his own body. And he was indoctrinated with putting the safety of his Village before that of his own, and that just wasn't a belief he could stand by and allow to continue festering.

"Uh… Dude?"

"Shut up, B. I know what I'm doing!"

"There is _literally_ no need for you to do this. I'm good back home."

"You're treated like shit and I won't stand it any longer!" Deidara growled over at the older man, then shook his head and pointed down at the map he had pulled out from his pockets. "I've heard Konoha's leader is rather permissive and sympathetic… If we dress up right; give a sad enough sob story... He may allow us asylum."

"A's gonna be pissed."

"Fuck A."

Killer B smirked down at him, chuckled, then patted his shoulder heavily. "Alright, Skinny Twiggy, if you think this is a good idea, I'll play along for a while."

Deidara frowned at the nickname he'd been given, rolled the map back up, and finished his hurried movements by sticking his tongue out at Killer B in a completely mature manner that could _never_ be seen as anything someone immature, young, and impulsive would ever even _consider_ to do.

He was young, yes, but dammit! He knew what he was doing!

Yes, this was a grown man that was more than smart enough to know right from wrong. And, yes, this was also a man that had lived for far longer than Deidara had, so he really should be more perceptive to what he might say. And, of course, how could he forget the fact that this was also a man renowned for his skills in assassination and murder, so he wasn't some defenseless genin that needed someone to watch over him?

He hadn't forgotten any of that!

But he had seen countless times how the Raikage ignored his brother; how those that worked for A took advantage of Killer B's kindness and (oddly enough) respectful ways and pushed him around as if he were nothing more than dirt that needed to be stepped on every chance one got; how B would look up at the moon when he believed no one was around to see him, a look of deep longing and pain so clear in his face that not even his sunglasses could hide it.

"Let's get going."

Killer B nodded and they began to run.

He would not be returning to this Village ever again. Not after he'd kidnapped its most precious resource.

Oddly enough, he felt kind of okay with that.

Deidara had never been a big fan of his home, anyway… His Hidden Village was nice and all, but he'd always preferred much more _artistic_ environments… Maybe Konoha would be more beautiful and inspire many wonderful works of art from him…

* * *

Orochimaru had not been expecting to have anyone approach him to celebrate his fiftieth year of life.

Tsunade and Jiraiya were both currently working on Konoha's relations with Iwagakure, so they had not been able to try and surprise him this year like they normally would have. They had forced him to drink sake and listen to Jiraiya's horrible stories the night before they had left on their travels, so he had, in a way, already celebrated his birthday with his friends. So he had honestly not expected to experience any kind of surprises today.

His old teacher had walked up to him during the morning and they had drank tea as they reminisced over a time long past. But it had been a simple meeting and conversation, lacking the usual loudness of the birthday parties his team had once loved to host.

It was a rather odd feeling to not be surrounded by loudmouths for once on his birthday.

(Bittersweet would be a much more accurate description of how he felt. But he would never allow his deep love for his teammates to ever be voiced aloud. He couldn't. Jiraiya and Tsunade would never allow him to live it down.)

His day transpired rather normally. He went into T&I and helped where it was needed before he made his way over to the Academy. There, he helped Konan wrangle up the children that were refusing to behave- he was more than sure that there was an Uchiha and Inuzuka that were supposed to have been there that _weren't_ \- and offered to give them a history lesson to give the young woman some time to relax.

Once he had finished telling the children the story of one of his and his teammates' greatest battles and victories in Konoha's name, he allowed Naruto, Ino, and young Hinata to hug him, shooed the children away so they would finish their lessons, and said his goodbyes so he could take a small walk around the village.

When he returned to his home at sunset, all illusions of a quiet birthday were shattered.

"Happy fiftieth, old man!"

Multicolored streamers, gray and blue smoke, and green and yellow balloons bombarded his vision as a cacophony of shouts slammed into him. Before he had even been able to recover from the overload on his senses, he found arms wrapping around his waist and squeezing him tightly.

Luckily for Anko, he _knew_ she had been the one to hug him. For, if he had not known… Well, there may not have been an Anko any longer.

Sighing as the obnoxious colors and sounds died down, Orochimaru closed his eyes. Then, once he was sure that most of the colors had died down, he opened them again to take in the people that had dared surprise him.

All of T&I was inside of his home. Not just Ibiki, Anko, and their closest friends. No, the whole department was inside of his small house, along with Inoichi Yamanaka, a couple of young chunin with whom he had created a relationship (of sorts) when their teacher perished and he took on their training, and his old teacher.

"I am _not_ old."

Anko laughed and most of the people within his house followed suit.

"Sure, Sensei! If that helps you sleep at night." The woman brought her hand up to poke at his temple, though, and Orochimaru looked down at her with the most disappointed scowl he could muster. "But one of us has his hair graying, and it's not me!"

"Leave your teacher alone, Anko." Inoichi scolded as he walked up to them, a box wrapped up in gift paper held within both of his hands. "Ino, Hinata, and Naruto wanted you to have this, Orochimaru. They said 'Have a happy birthday, Snakey'."

Orochimaru suppressed the unamused sigh he wanted to release. Instead of allowing his exasperation with the people around him to be seen, he took the box into his hands and opened it to see just what the trio of children had gifted him.

An assorted array of paper animals.

Some were cruder than others, while a few were much too large to fit properly inside of the box, so they had been bent just slightly because of the lid. But Orochimaru could see that the children had put their hearts into every single animal.

"Cute." He commented and looked up, only to find Inoichi beaming at him as if he had just appraised the creations as the most valuable things in the world.

"Come along, Sensei." Anko began to pull him into his home, nearer to the crowd of assembled people, "The Akimichi prepared one of the most beautiful cakes I've ever seen in my life and we need to start eating it before Hagane and Kamizuki start getting any bright ideas."

"I resent that comment!" Kotetsu shouted with a growl, all the while Izumo merely shook his head, "I'm the good one… _Kotetsu_ is the dangerous one…"

Such immaturity… Orochimaru was glad he had been able to help them both when they had needed it the most.

He allowed Anko to pull him into his kitchen and did not fight when she forced a birthday hat onto his head. Instead he merely thanked everyone that entered the kitchen, as polite and proper as ever.

The rest of the night was spent with Anko trying to get the chunin within the house drunk, Ibiki and Genma stopping her whenever she managed to force alcohol into their hands, and Inoichi, Hiruzen, and he talking about whatever it was that came to their minds.

It seemed that, after all, he was destined to never spend a birthday in peace and quiet.

It wasn't too big a shame.

~..~..~

So, basically, the overall theme of this story is that Kakuzu and Hidan were bound to meet eventually- and Kakuzu has a minion within a young Fū because he refused to allow his Village to have so much power-; Haku was taken in by Kisame instead of Zabuza; Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato all followed Jiraiya when he returned to the Hidden Leaf; Sasori found a life worth living in teaching the Sand Siblings; Obito and Itachi were allowed to live out happy lives with the Uchiha Clan intact- with a bit of the Hatake Clan surviving and sort of merging with the Inuzuka, hence giving Sakumo a reason to live and Kakashi, in turn, another-; Deidara being a criminal because heart; and Orochimaru becoming an important part of the T&I Division.

I really liked writing this one-shot. In my point of view, nothing was angsty, but not everything was overly happy either. A perfect balance!

Please review!


End file.
